Mr James Hoy: Recent usage of cyclamates has been equivalent in sweetening power to something like 15,000 tons of sugar per year, but I expect only part of this to be replaced by sugar. The sugar refiners have for many years undertaken to use Commonwealth sugar for the home trade, in preference to non-Commonwealth sugar, provided it is offered competitively.
Mr James Hoy: The House knows my view on the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement, of which I have been a loyal supporter, and which is the policy of the Government.
Mr James Hoy: I thought that I would get that question about Cupar. But I have made it clear that Commonwealth sugar will make up the difference, if necessary.
Mr James Hoy: We have no new proposals for the bee-keeping industry. Government assistance to bee keepers will continue to be based on research, education, advice and the control of disease.
Mr James Hoy: I cannot give the hon. Gentleman a reply off the cuff. If that was the question he wanted to ask, he should have put it on the Order Paper.
Mr James Hoy: We import a considerable amount of honey, and it is true that it is cheaper than our own. But the Question asked what advice and help we were giving to the bee-keeping industry, and all I replied to was the Question which the hon. Gentleman put on the Order Paper.
Mr James Hoy: I am sure that I express the wish of the whole House when I say that I hope that our hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr. Edward M. Taylor) will soon recover from his illness and will be with us well again.
Mr James Hoy: The hon. Member for Banff (Mr. W. H. K. Baker) asked how the new white fish rates are working out. They are the 1968 rates increased by about 10 per cent. The lowest rate last year was £3 10s. and we are proposing £3 17s. The highest rate last year was £5 5s. and this year it is being increased to £5 16s. These increases vary between 7s. and 11s. and I hope that that answer satisfies the...
Mr James Hoy: Of the industrial catch 10 per cent. undersized can go for industrial purposes. The hon. Member for Edinburgh, West asked about imports. The House is well aware that a 10 per cent. duty was imposed on imports of fish fillets from Scandinavia. We felt that the imports did not conform to the agreement and we therefore imposed the duty. Imposition of the duty was welcomed at the time by the...
Mr James Hoy: I thought that the hon. Gentleman referred to it. It is always difficult even to find a site for a fish meal factory. Everyone thinks that we should have one, but not in his area.
Mr James Hoy: My hon. Friend should put up a proposal for it. I can assure him, if he does not already know, that in some places where it has been suggested the local authorities have rejected it very firmly. Progress with a factory depends on many things, including the willingness of a commercial firm to take up the proposal. There have been talks, but so far no industrialist has indicated a genuine...
Mr James Hoy: An estimate on the basis suggested has not been made because it would be unrealistic and, therefore, misleading.
Mr James Hoy: I can hardly connect the last part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question with the main Question. New arrangements for financing the Common Agricultural Policy are due to come into effect on 1st January, 1970. Therefore, it is misleading to proceed on the basis of the present arrangements.
Mr James Hoy: An estimate was made then. My right hon. Friend knows that circumstances have changed considerably since then. I would prefer to deal with that question when my right hon. Friend puts it to me later.
Mr James Hoy: Obviously it is kept under review all the time. In view of the substantial changes which are bound to take place as from 1st January, 1970, it would be unrealistic to try to do it at present.
Mr James Hoy: Total carcase meat imports are not expected to decline to any significant extent in 1969–70. Additional marketings of home-fed supplies have to some extent been delayed by bad weather at the start of the season, but are expected to increase between now and the end of 1970. The meat market is likely to remain generally firm throughout the year, however, but precise estimates of supply and...
Mr James Hoy: It is very difficult to forecast, certainly in farming, exactly what the prospects will be 12 months ahead, but we expect a much larger contribution from our own home supply.
Mr James Hoy: Not at present, but my right hon. Friend will bear my right hon. Friend's suggestion in mind.
Mr James Hoy: As I said in reply to an earlier Question, and as my right hon. Friend will appreciate, certain changes have to take place as from the beginning of next year. The Community itself has to decide what its policy will be in regard to the Mansholt Plan and other arrangements. My right hon. Friend will understand the difficulty in giving more information until these are settled.
Mr James Hoy: When this comes to be examined it will have to be taken into account, but we cannot do so until certain action is taken elsewhere.
